The Scarf Situation
by Mintrosy
Summary: The one where Dylan likes to give hickeys, Danny is bad at hiding them, and Merritt's favorite pastime is annoying the hell out of the showman. (Mentions of Dylan/Danny aka Lover's Fool with Merritt and Danny friendship).


Nobody could really blame Merritt for teasing the Horsemen's resident control freak every now and then. Daniel's reactions and behaviors just made it too easy and entertaining for the bored mentalist. So after spending one very uneventful morning wandering around Greenwich Observatory, Merritt was pleased to see Danny walking up the driveway. Atlas was carrying a large box that had a precariously stacked pile of papers on top, and he was clearly struggling with the door while keeping the box balanced in his arms. After several minutes, Danny finally made his way inside the building, and sighed irritably when he spotted the smug looking mentalist leaning against a large armchair on one end of the room.

"Could you please get off your lazy ass and help me with this damn thing?" Atlas huffed as the box and papers almost tipped over.

"Lazy? How dare you. It might look like I'm doing nothing, but at the cellular level I'm really quite busy." Merritt replied sarcastically, but nevertheless crossed the room and grabbed the box from the smaller man.

He placed the contents on one of the tables and shuffled through some other the files as Danny shrugged off his jacket. Out of the corner of his eye, Merritt saw Danny reach for his scarf as if to take it off as well, before suddenly halting his movements and bringing his hands down quickly to his sides.

Merritt raised an eyebrow suspiciously, "Everything okay there, Dan?" He asked, a smirk beginning to form as Daniel's eyes widened a fraction.

"Uh, yeah, of course. Nothing's wrong. Can I have the files? I've been gathering them from around town all day." Danny spoke quickly, trying to change the subject.

Merritt hummed, handing over the papers while studying the nervous man's demeanor. His eyes caught onto something, and he observed the showman's movements for a few more minutes before addressing it.

"That's a nice scarf, Dan. Where'd ya get it?" Merritt prompted teasingly, internally cheering as Danny froze for a split second, tips of his ears turning pink.

"I've always had it, and I wear it quite often actually." Danny responded, "Don't worry Merritt, memory loss happens to a lot of people your age."

Merritt could tell that Danny was trying to play it off, but the determined mentalist had already latched on and wasn't going to let it go until he got his quota of embarrassing Daniel for the day.

"Lemme see it." Merritt said simply reaching of the fabric around the showman's throat. As expected, Danny's hands flew up to the scarf and he backed away from Merritt.

"Why? There's no point, McKinney." Danny insisted, narrowing his eyes as Merritt continued to move closer.

"Oh, I'd say there is a point. Multiple points probably, knowing Dylan." Merritt laughed, moving forward every time Daniel took a step back.

Danny sighed heavily in exasperation, "If you already know, then why do you still want the scarf?"

"Call it curiosity, or maybe I just need validation of my observation skills." Merritt shrugged, "Also, I wanted to embarrass you, of course."

Danny scoffed and swatted away Merritt's hand, "Like you don't get enough chances to do that. You're just being childish and-Hey!" Daniel exclaimed as Merritt finally swiped the scarf from his neck, revealing several very large hickeys. Danny quickly clasped a hand on his throat in attempt to cover them and glared at the triumphantly smirking mentalist.

"You're honestly the most insufferable human being I've ever met." Danny growled, "Give me back the damn scarf, McKinney."

Merritt playfully waved the fabric in front of him, "Aw, c'mon Danny-boy. It ain't so bad. I'm sure Dylan would absolutely _love_ -"

"What would I love?" Dylan interrupted as he walked into the room. Danny was still standing with his hand covering his neck, and both of the other men could see that he was fighting off a rather aggressive blush.

"Uh, should I be worried?" He asked hesitantly.

"Dylan! Tell this idiot to give me my scarf back." Danny ordered as Dylan walked towards them.

Dylan just gave Merritt a look and chuckled when the older man raised his hands in surrender, passing the scarf back to Daniel.

"No harm done, boss. Just simple curiosity." Merritt grinned mischievously, walking toward the door to the outside of the building. "I'm going to go see what Jackie and Lula are doing. See you two later, and don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Merritt called loudly before shutting the door behind him.

Dylan shook his head in amusement before his attention was drawn by his lover's exasperated groan.

Danny grumbled under his breath and returned to shuffling the papers on the table, "Ugh, I swear that man is going to drive me insane one of these days."

Dylan chuckled, reaching from behind Danny and placing his head on top of the younger man's shoulder, "I don't know, I think it's pretty funny."

Danny turned his head so he could see Dylan's face, "Who's side are you on?"

"Yours, of course. I just think that you're cute when you're flustered." Dylan assured, kissing Danny's neck softly. He hummed contently and moved further down on Danny's neck, nipping gently as he made his way across Danny's pale skin. Danny let himself relax into the sensation before suddenly realizing what Dylan was doing. Danny's eyes flew open and he snapped around quickly, pointing an accusing finger in Dylan's shocked face.

"Dylan! That is _not_ helping! I don't want _more_ hickeys!"


End file.
